McLaren boss shares his theory on why Red Bull struggled in Australia

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella claimed that Red Bull's struggles at the Australian GP were linked with tyre behavior and that the result could have changed if the conditions were different.

The world champions had a difficult weekend at the Albert Park Circuit as Max Verstappen retired in the opening laps due to rear right break failure and Sergio Perez sustained damage to his floor while passing Fernando Alonso. Perez eventually finished fifth.

Speaking with Motorsport.com, the McLaren team boss mentioned that the Austrian team's struggles were caused by high graining and softer tyre compounds. He gave the example of the Bahrain GP last month where Red Bull thrived due to harder compounds. He said:

“In Bahrain, Red Bull was the only car that comfortably used the soft tyres. But in Bahrain, you have no graining at all. No way that you are going to grain because you don't have enough grip to stress the tires and strain the rubber to a point where the rubber generates graining.

“[Australia is a] completely different regime compared to Bahrain. Red Bull did not enjoy any advantage, apparently, from a tire handling point of view, in a track where the tires were very soft and graining."

Lando Norris 'happy' with McLaren's progress after P3 finish in Melbourne

McLaren driver Lando Norris stated that he was delighted with the start of the season that the team has made given their predicament a year back.

As per Autosport, the British driver pointed out that the team's results thus far have been 'solid' but he would be even happier if they make progress in 2024. He said:

“On the whole, I'm very happy. Can I be happier? Yes. Can we all? Yes, because we always want more, we always want to be able to compete a bit higher.

“But I think for us to start the season in such a solid position, knowing that we can still improve on so many areas, it’s a smile on my face, because we're in a good position, and we know we can get a lot better still."

McLaren currently sits in P3 in the Constructor's Championship on 55 points, well clear of rivals Mercedes and Aston Martin. While its drivers are P5 and P6 in the Driver's Standings with Oscar Piastri leading Norris by a point after three races.

The Woking-based team would hope to keep their upward trajectory in the upcoming races and challenge for wins and pole positions.